I send my newsletters to family & some friends who are far away. Even for a wider audience, I try to keep it real and warm. I wrote an essay about my newsletters that was published in the 2025 Conditional Release Newsletter (for Edmonton Institution for Women). #TWSOchat

That definitely is a classic! I think it was required reading in some English class I took at one point. #TWSOchat

Well, I hope it does get published one day soon. I think digital fatigue is upon us and it would be interesting to see more letter writing or postcard writing come back in vogue. And of course also to read more stories that use it in a unique way. ^ct #TWSOchat

#TWSOchat That's exactly the dilemma between typing and handwriting...lost notes all over that I can't decipher versus so easy to say too much and have to edit it down. Editing is a job though, just not as exciting as first drafting for me. So true that "handwriting has an internal built-in editor"

I do want to check out this medieval pig trial now! #TWSOchat

Like everything in life now! Some might have access so I shared it anyways. But yes, I know a few family members that would send out a Christmas newsletter or letter mail and they were nice to receive. ^ct #TWSOchat Do you send one out to family and/or friends?

Oh, interesting for some reason I didn't think about typed letters, I think I did so few of those during my letter writing days. I wish I kept those few though, that would have been enlightening. Do you still type out your letters? ^ct #TWSOchat

A5. I have always found letters in a novel pull me in because the form instantly triggers a sense of intimacy and curiosity. It can be a much more interesting form of exposition and is also frequently used in story-rich video games. #TWSOchat

A4 #TWSOchat I love reading & revealing characters' pure motives & inhibited emotions in letters. They're free to be honest with themselves & partner & often poetic. In fantasy stories letters to deceased characters & those in other dimensions become poems. I grew up on letters so it's cultural.

Yes, for sure. Some letters I have from friends or family really show what our relationships were like, struggles we were having, what we were thinking about. I wish I kept more of my handwritten letters from back in the day. Now, I do because they are few and far between ^ct #TWSOchat

A2. What I remember about the long letters I used to write my friends is how they were attempts to figure out what I thought, wrestling with ideas, instead of what I do now , which is mostly “check out this story about a medieval pig trial.” #TWSOchat

Ah yes, the romance genre is so ideal for letters of all types. It's true sometimes I find that I can't write fast enough anymore for my thoughts and typing it out captures everything but then maybe too much? Handwriting maybe has an internal editor built in? ^ct #TWSOchat

Q6. One of the first epistolary novels that I ever read was Possession by A.S. Byatt, and there are so many ways that letters are used to show what is happening in the present, past and in diaries. Do you remember the first novel that you read that used letters in some way in the plot? ^ct #TWSOchat

This is the way it seems. One thing I think about though is archiving (being a librarian) w/an interest in preservation. I guess you could back up your messages in the cloud but what if they disappear for ever? I just pub a piece about an iPhone log & happy to have the messages still. ^ct #TWSOchat

Q5. Do you find having letters in a novel can be distracting and that it pulls you away from what is happening in "real time"? If so, are there ways that can be alleviated or is that one of important plot devices that can be used in literature in different ways? #TWSOchat

Click on this hashtag #TWSOchat to see the whole conversation for the writing chat and make sure to use it in your replies. Let us know if you have any other questions :) and welcome everyone! #writing #WritingCommunity #writerschat

I love that Jessica, I think letter writing for your child is so cool. I think content for letters is so interesting, I have an archive of them from a friend that are over 15 years old that are really telling what were thinking at the time. I wish she had kept mine lol #TWSOchat

Q4. If you've read a book that uses letters or a letter what sort of emotions come up for you as you've read it? What kind of thoughts run through your mind as to how epistolary writing is different from other forms? #TWSOchat

A1 #TWSOchat I love letters! I compose them best on the computer when I can read them again. Handwriting when passionately engaged is hard to read after. My characters & I love writing letters. It gets painful to have to edit them out of my romance books if they're repetitive but I love the process

Q3. Are there any books that you have read or can think of that use the letters as literary material or as a through plot line that you found interesting? One big example in the lit world is Ocean Vuong's "On Earth Wer're Briefly Gorgeous" - a single long letter written to his mother #TWSOchat